Description

Daylight is a first-person survival horror game where the player takes on the role of Sarah who wakes up with no recollection of previous events in an abandoned hospital and an adjacent prison. Her goal is to escape and find out what has happened. A voice-over often explains parts of what's happened when a key item has been picked up. The most important tool in the game is her cellphone. It provides light in the darkness and can render a map of the environments. Later on the game additional light resources can be picked up such as up to four glow sticks or flares. She can examine objects in the surroundings and needs to solve small environment puzzles to open up new paths to progress in the complex. Next to providing light, flares act as the only weapon in the game as they can be used to scare off ghouls with the only other option to run away. The phone turns to static when the ghoul is nearby.

Sarah's investigation has an immediate impact on the threat of enemies. To progress, she needs to collect six remnants in a certain area. These are clues such as notes and records. These can be tracked through markings that become visible when lighted with glow sticks. With each collected part the chance of threats is heightened as picking one up makes a threat meter fill up. When all remnants are collected, they need to be brought to a glowing room where they can be turned into a sigil, an item that needs to be carried to the seal of shadows (a locked door) that leads to a new section. During that part, Sarah can holds no torches or flares, so she needs to dash through the darkness with no means of defense. In addition, a single game session is limited to two hours so there is additional pressure to move swiftly. Replaying the game is encouraged through procedural generation elements, for instance randomizing the location of the parts and the two key rooms for each session as well as parts of the overall room lay-out. The game also employs a wide variety of startling audio and moving object scares to add to the horror theme.